The Comet Enigma
by luinrina
Summary: SG-1 is sent to investigate the impact of four meteorites, but upon arrival at the impact site, the meteorites have mysteriously vanished. Owing to years of experience, Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c know one thing for sure: like usual, there's more than meets the eye. A Stargate SG-1 / Transformers (movie) crossover.
1. Prologue: Nightfire

**Disclaimer** **:** Anything and anyone you recognize does not belong to me but their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended; I only borrowed the characters to satisfy my muse's need to mix my favorite sci-fi TV series with one of my favorite sci-fi movies. I promise to give them all back after finishing the story.

 **Author Note:** I just noticed that nearly four years have passed since I wrote the opening scene. My, how time flies… The good thing is that this story is already completely written so you won't be bothered with my erratic muse and long periods of silence in-between sporadic updates. I will probably publish a chapter once a week. I hope you like where I took it and am looking forward to reading your opinions (aka reviews).

For all my readers waiting for an update on " _Transformers Prime: Stardust_ ": I'm working on it. I haven't given up on the story. My muse has just been otherwise occupied. But I am expecting progress in the near future, now that " _The Comet Enigma_ " has been concluded.

Enough waffling. Enjoy!

* * *

– prologue –

 **Nightfire**

It was a clear night, perfect for stargazing.

Major General Jack O'Neill sat on the roof of his house, the telescope turned skyward. Above him, there glittered millions of stars in the seemingly endless void that formed space. _Suns_ , he corrected himself mentally, somewhat amused. _Stars are suns._ He briefly wondered how many he had seen from a much closer perspective during his travels all across the Milky Way. He would never know, unless he asked Carter about it – which he most likely wouldn't unless he wanted to be subjected to an hours-long lecture on astrophysics.

Somewhere in the neighborhood, a dog started barking angrily, probably to scare a stray cat. Jack found himself listening whether he could hear the feline. And sure enough, a moment later, there was hissing to be heard. Quickly afterward, silence settled over the area again.

It was disturbed once more when the nearby church bell started chiming, indicating that it was only another hour until midnight. Jack wasn't tired yet though. He knew that the later the hour, the better the chance to see something spectacular. Had he known exactly how spectacular – in the negative sense – this night was going to turn out, he might have considered calling it a day and going to bed. But Jack stayed outside to continue his stargazing.

Just moments after the bell had silenced again and when Jack had momentarily turned his gaze heavenward without the telescope, he noticed a group of four oddly flickering stars on the higher western horizon. He frowned and quickly turned his telescope in this new direction. Peering through, he discovered that it was not stars he was seeing, but rather comets. "How odd," he mumbled to himself. He would have thought that comets were loners and did not travel in groups; at least, he had never before heard of a _group_ of comets traversing the earthen sky. But there was a first for everything it seemed.

While he continued watching the comets over the next minutes, he noticed that they grew in size. Rapidly. And then Jack realized the comets were heading directly toward Earth.

Instead of him feeling surprised at this discovery or even shocked, reflexes acquired thanks to many years in active field service kicked in and took over his next actions. Jack jumped up from his seat and made for the closest telephone available: his cell. His fingers flew over the keys, speed-dialing, before holding the phone to his ears. All the while Jack kept his eyes fixed on the comets whose tails grew even longer when they started entering the atmosphere. They never slowed down while tearing through the sky.

…

Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter was working on her latest project which kept nagging at her, the design of a laser weapon. During a series of simulations earlier that day, she had encountered a problem in the energy output resulting in failure of all scenarios provided by the computer. The analysis of the data collected during the test had uncovered a miscalculation. Determined to get the laser weapon to work earlier than later, Sam had gone over the calculations again, trying to erase the error to make the energy output work. The afternoon had thus run by without her noticing it. Only when General O'Neill had suddenly stood in her lab's door, asking when she was leaving for home, did she glance up at a clock.

But since she had been close to getting to the bottom of the test failure of this morning, she had opted to stay. So when the telephone rang and startled her out of her calculations, she was hungry, tired and slightly pissed off at having been interrupted – not necessarily in that order.

"Carter," she therefore barked into the phone just after the second ring, not bothering to check for the ID.

The caller spared the greeting. _"Is there a scientific explanation to comets nowadays travelling in groups?"_ a man asked. She would recognize that voice anywhere; it was General O'Neill.

Sam felt slightly guilty for her impolite response to his call, but it was the less important of her thoughts right now. Truth was, the question was confusing her. She was used to General O'Neill being somewhat random at times, but this question beat everything so far. "No, sir," she eventually answered, slowly. She switched to another computer and quickly brought up every data she had about comets. What she read confirmed her first thoughts. "Comets travel alone," she told her superior officer before adding an inquiry. "Why do you ask?"

" _Well…"_ Through the phone, she could hear him sit down. _"I'm right now tracking a group of four comets from my private observatory,"_ he told her. _"They first appeared on the higher western sky, made contact with the atmosphere and by now have descended majorly. They're nearly gone behind the Rocky Mountains."_

His report surprised her. " _Four_ comets? That is impossible…" She trailed off while doing a quick research. "I just checked the databank of the IAU*; there are no comets announced for quite a while, sir, let alone a _group_ of _four_."

" _Explain that to the ones in the atmosphere,"_ the general muttered. There was a moment's pause, then, _"And now they just vanished behind the mountains."_

"Noted." Sam typed furiously on her keyboard. If a comet hit Earth… As soon as she found what she was looking for, the upcoming panic turned to amusement. Grinning, she announced, "NORAD's satellites have picked up your 'comets', sir. For the record, those aren't comets but meteorites."

" _Oh,"_ came from the other end.

Sam smiled and continued, "There seems to be nothing in the news. Yet. I suppose it's just too late to still be awake."

" _Then why are you still up?"_ came the reply.

"I could ask you the same, sir," she said before remembering who she was talking to. That she felt this at ease around a superior officer proved how long she had been working with General O'Neill. "I'm still working on the calculations."

" _Ah."_ There was a pause, then the general asked, _"Didn't I order you to go home?"_

Smiling to herself while typing on the keyboard again, she replied, "Yes, sir."

" _So you're not following an order, Carter."_

"No, sir."

" _Carter, do you know wh—"_

"Yes, sir, I know." The banter was light and Sam knew she wouldn't get in trouble with General O'Neill for not having followed his order to go home, but she had to focus on the reason why he called in the first place – and remind him along the way. "Sir, according to the satellite feed, the meteorites have entered the atmosphere over central Nebraska and are heading straight for California." She typed again. "The computer calculated the impact to be near the town of… Tranquility." She hesitated for a moment before musing aloud, "If you ask me –"

" _I called you so I am asking you."_

Sam smiled at his joke. "Since you ask me, I say that behavior's strange. Meteor showers happen quite regularly, but usually, there is forewarning. There has been no information about these four at all. . My first instinct says it's not natural."

Over the phone Sam heard the general groan and utter a brief _"Crap."_ She could easily imagine how he had hoped that for once in his life he would get the chance to stargaze without any weird interruptions. _"All right, call the necessary institutions. I want a cleared team on site a.s.a.p. to check these meteorites out."_

"Yes, sir." She hesitated, then added, "It's a drive of about twenty hours to Tranquility, sir."

" _I want a briefing at 07:00 hours so you better be there_ before _07:00 hours."_

"Of course, sir." Which meant they had to take a plane. She hoped someone of flight control was still awake at this late hour.

" _Oh, and Carter?"_ the general quickly added before Sam could hang up. _"Try to make sure it's not alien in nature."_

She grinned, deeply amused when answering, "I'll keep that in mind, sir," before ending the call to dial up Peterson.

—

* IAU – International Astronomical Union


	2. In The Dark

**Author Note:** Many thanks to Golfbabe87, Harute9595 and lilnudger82 for taking the time to leave a review. I'm glad you enjoyed the prologue. My thanks also go to all those who favorited and/or put the story to their alert.

Here's now the first chapter. Please enjoy, and I'm looking forward to receiving your feedback! :)

* * *

– chapter one –

 **In The Dark**

"So," Dr. Daniel Jackson said when he entered the plane and sat down. He nodded a greeting at Teal'c sitting across from him and continued, "What exactly are we dealing with?" He sent an expectantly cheerful smile at his friend though he felt anything but cheerful. It was well past midnight, and he was tired and wanted to go back home and to bed.

Sam being busy with furiously typing on her laptop only pointed toward the table in front of them. Daniel reached out and took up the file lying on top. It consisted of print outs – about astronomy. "Are we going to give a lecture on comets and meteorites?" he joked after having gone through the papers.

"Then I fail to see the reason why I am to accompany you," Teal'c spoke up. He had so far remained silent.

Daniel looked at him. "You've been on a comet. Your first-hand experience will make the difference."

"You too have been on that comet, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c returned, not reacting to the attempt at a joke.

"Yeah, but it wasn't me who left the ship to nuke it," Daniel countered.

"We're not going to give a lecture," Sam finally spoke up.

Both Teal'c's and Daniel's attentions turned toward her. "So where are we going?" the latter asked.

Sam remained silent for another moment, fiddling with her seatbelt. Both men mirrored her action. Not a moment later, the plane drove to the runway and taxied off soon after. Once airborne, Sam belatedly answered, "California."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow and Daniel incredulously asked, "At this hour?"

Sam nodded. "Yes, at this hour. Sorry that I had to wake you guys but General O'Neill wants a debriefing at 07:00 hours."

"Okay…" Daniel muttered.

"May I inquire about the nature of this mission, Colonel Carter?" Teal'c spoke up.

Sam smiled – the first time since they had entered the plane. "General O'Neill observed a group of four meteorites landing on Earth. He asked us to investigate."

Daniel shared a surprised look with Teal'c. "Four meteorites without warning? That's… unusual."

"I agree," Teal'c said.

Sam nodded. "That's why we're heading to California. I took the trajectory the satellites picked up and calculated where exactly they will come down." She pointed at the file in Daniel's hands.

He took the hint and ruffled through the papers once more. "Tranquility?" he read.

"Tranquility," Sam confirmed.

Silence fell over the three for moment. Daniel interrupted it with a sigh before forcing his cheerful attitude on and asked, "So, any idea what sort of alien we're dealing with?"

Openly grinning now, Sam said, "Let's find out."

…

They landed at Fresno Yosemite International Airport about two and a half hours later. The local sheriff who looked quite young for the position was already waiting for them with a car next to the runway. "Welcome in California, ma'am," the diligent man said when they disembarked, trying and failing at a proper salute.

"Thank you, Sheriff," Sam replied. "Sorry for the trouble at this time of the night."

"No problem, ma'am, not at all." He hurried ahead, only to open the car door and hold it for her. "The car's fuelled up, and the GPS is working perfectly – checked it myself – but just in case, I put a map into the glove box."

"Thank you." Sam slid behind the wheel while Daniel claimed the passenger seat. Teal'c had no other choice but to climb into the backseat.

The sheriff bent down and looked in through the rolled-down window. "Are you certain you'll be fine by yourself? I could drive you. I know this place like my back pocket. Surely you're all tired and –"

"Thank you, Sheriff, but we'll be fine. We slept on the flight over," Sam said resolutely. As eager as the man was, he didn't have clearance. Besides, none of the three SG-1 members had any idea what they were going to find.

The sheriff looked a little disappointed but said, "Of course, ma'am. Hope you enjoy your stay."

Sam nodded her thanks and, after starting the motor, drove off.

Once they had brought some distance between themselves and the airport, Daniel glanced at the car clock. "It's nearly half past one. Let's assume we'll need about half an hour to get to the landing site…"

"… which will give us about five hours to investigate before Colonel O'Neill expects our call," Sam said and sighed. Despite the nap on the flight over she was tired and slowly starting to feel the exhaustion. She wouldn't mind Daniel taking over, but for some reason she hesitated asking him.

Probably owned to the fact that they had been working together closely for years, Daniel gave her a long look and softly said, "If you need a break, we can switch."

She sent him a smile. "Thanks, but I'm still fine. I'll let you know if I'm about to conk out."

"Fair enough."

She gestured at the navigator. "I have the landing coordinates saved on the laptop but we shouldn't put them into the GPS. You wouldn't mind reading out directions though, would you?"

Daniel pulled out the laptop and switched it on. "Not at all. Just tell me where you saved the coordinates."

The drive through the city was uneventful and passed in silence most of the time. Teal'c put himself back into kelnorim after the session during the flight had been ended abruptly, and Daniel had opted to check out the local news on Sam's laptop. The meteorites had gone by fairly unnoticed; Daniel found a short news feed that read 'four fireballs streaming over the city.' He also came across one late night TV report and streamed it. One of the meteorites had apparently slid along a street, battering quite a couple of buildings in the process before coming to a stop in a repair shop. "Check this out," Daniel said quietly and turned the laptop so that Sam could glance at the screen. While the reporter talked into the camera, the rampaged street was clearly visible.

"Wow," Sam commented. "Those holes are big. Whatever landed isn't exactly tiny."

Daniel nodded. "I've been watching the people in that feed closely. No glowing eyes. I don't think it's a Goa'uld."

"Asgard?"

"Doubtful. Their ships are even larger than that." He paused, flying over another news article. "Maybe an escape capsule? Do they even have those?"

Sam looked back at the road. Even though still very early in the morning, the traffic wasn't exactly light. Also, the very first morning commuters were starting to appear and she had to concentrate. "Beats me," she eventually said when the traffic flowed smoothly for a moment. "Haven't ever seen some, but then again, whenever we've been on an Asgard ship, it's been under trying circumstances. No time for a sightseeing tour."

"Yeah," Daniel agreed and pulled up another article.

"Found anything else of interest?" Sam asked.

"Not really. Guess it was just too late for the reporters to catch it. However, I found an entry of an online journal that describes some sort of chasing. Listen to that: 'A helicopter followed what looked like a giant, but both were over so fast, it felt like a dream. Only the large footsteps on the asphalt bear witness.'"

"Could it be that the stone giants your grandfather Nick stayed behind with came here to Earth, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c spoke up, startling both Sam and Daniel. No one had noticed him coming out of kelnorim.

With Sam being busy navigating through the traffic, Daniel took it on to answer. He shook his head. "I doubt that. They existed on an alternate plane of existence. I wouldn't put it past the realm of scientific possibilities that they somehow managed to cross dimensions, but my gut instinct says it's something else we're dealing with."

"The question is what else is there?" Sam said. She glanced at Teal'c through the rearview mirror. "Does anything sound familiar? As Apophis' former First Prime you've certainly gotten around a lot."

The Jaffa nodded. "Indeed I have, but I do not remember ever having seen or heard anything like what was encountered tonight."

They fell silent again afterward.

About ten minutes later, they arrived on the edge of the city. Sam parked the car at the roadside, and while both Daniel and Teal'c already got out, she pulled out her cell and inserted the coordinates before shutting down her laptop. Afterward she too exited the vehicle.

"So," Daniel said, "where to?"

Sam consulted her personal GPS. "Over there," she said and pointed before setting off. They followed her without another word.

They wouldn't even need to go too far; in the closer distance, they could already see a tree halfway burned. There were still small flames licking at the branches and trunk. Thanks to the clear night and relatively brightly shining moon they could see quite a lot, and it was evident that the ground around the tree was roughed up. Badly. Daniel, Sam and Teal'c had barely walked fifty feet when they already reached the edge of a crater.

"Wow!" Daniel exclaimed, stunned. He pointed his flashlight which seemed too small and feeble to cover much.

"Indeed," Teal'c said.

Daniel carefully looked around, taking in the size. "This is huge," he murmured and tried to somewhat trace the edge with the flashlight. "My guess would be at least twenty feet wide."

Sam standing next to him nodded. "If not even larger," she muttered, then said, a little louder, "The meteorite was at least very heavy." She pointed into the crater. "Just look how deep in it went."

Carefully, the three worked their way around the crater's edge before finding a spot that was safe to climb into it. They walked slowly, careful to not overlook anything. Even the tiniest boulder could tell them what they were dealing with.

Only, they never found anything, not even the smallest trace of extraterrestrial rock.

"That's odd," Sam mumbled when she crouched down, carefully running her fingers over the ploughed ground. "There's nothing here except soil."

Daniel squatted down next to her. "Do you think that whatever came down here actually _is_ the meteorite?"

Sam stood up again and Daniel mirrored her. "I don't know how that would even be possible, but it just looks like it." She fell silent, pensive. In all those years that she had travelled through the Milky Way she had never encountered anything like what they might be facing. "What sort of creature would be able to travel through space by itself?" she wondered out loud.

"Haven't the foggiest," Daniel said. He surveyed the size of the crater in which they stood.

"They would have to be able to create breathable air," Sam continued, the scientist in her excitedly looking forward to find the answer to that question.

"Colonel Carter, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c suddenly called. Both turned and saw their friend some feet away – outside the crater. "You should see this," the Jaffa added.

Sam and Daniel quickly walked over to him. "What is it, Teal'c?" Sam asked.

The Jaffa just pointed – at a footprint in the dirt. They stared at it for several moments.

"Okay… whatever landed here is definitely _not_ human-sized," Daniel summed up their observations.

…

Major General Jack O'Neill sat in his office, sipping his morning coffee, tapping his fingers on the desk and trying to read some reports. The latter was especially difficult to concentrate on as he was waiting for something to happen.

Suddenly, his phone rang. He glanced at it for a moment before checking his watch. He picked up the receiver and, without a greeting, said, "Just on time, Carter. You're only one hour too late."

" _Good morning, sir,"_ came the reply, _"and my apologies. I forgot that there is a time difference between Colorado and California."_ She sounded contrite.

Leaning back into his chair, Jack asked, "Well, did you at least find anything?"

" _Yes, sir, we did. I emailed you information on what we found including photos and news reports but to summarize it: The meteorites are not natural."_

He sighed deeply. It would have been nice for once not having to deal with an alien invasion. "Do I need to alert the President?" he asked.

There was a short silence before Carter slowly allowed, _"I'm not certain, sir. Maybe you should. Daniel came across a press release from Secretary of Defense Keller about the destruction of Soccent in Qatar where no one had yet claimed responsibility, so I called Major Davies for more information. He then told me that Air Force One was hacked on the President's flight from the SGC to Washington. Specialists were able to isolate the hacker's signature; it's the same person that hacked the Pentagon's servers before Soccent was destroyed. On top of that we have four mysterious meteorites. My instincts are telling me that the hacks and our investigation are somehow connected; only I cannot yet see the relation."_

While Carter spoke, Jack found the email she had sent and quickly read through it. He checked out the press release she had mentioned. He would call Keller first before calling the President. Maybe the Pentagon had already found out who was responsible for the hacks and the attack on Soccent Base.

Turning his attention back to Carter, he said, "Keep investigating. I want to know more. If you need, ask the personnel of Travis, Edwards or Vandenberg to assist you but choose them carefully."

" _Thank you, sir."_

"Keep me posted."

" _Of course, sir. Carter out."_ The line was cut.

Sighing, Jack stood and walked down into the command center. "Walter, get me SecDef Keller on the phone please."


	3. On The Hunt

**Author Note:** Many thanks to lilnudger82, Harute9595 and anon guest for leaving reviews as well as to everyone who favorited and/or put the story on their alert.

I also got a private message pointing out a major mistake I made. To quote: " _A comet would destroy the planet if it hit, I think the word you wanted was meteor_ ". They were of course right insofar as regards the wrong use of the word 'comet.' Upon checking the issue again, I found out that a 'meteor' disintegrates in the atmosphere, never reaching ground. The ones that do touch down on earth are called 'meteorites.' I went back and edited the story summary, prologue and first chapter. However, I decided to leave the story's title as it is because it's spiffy as well as ambiguous. And Jack made the same mistake I made. ;p

Enough of the scientific babble. I present you the second chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

– chapter two –

 **On The Hunt**

As soon as Sam ended the last phone call, SG-1 headed back toward the car. This time, Daniel sat behind the wheel. "All right, where to?" he asked after starting the motor and setting the vehicle in motion.

Sam powered up her laptop. "We should check out the footprints on the street this one person mentioned, see if they match with the ones we found at the impact site." She opened the internet. "Where did you say you read this?" Daniel gave her the address and Sam then quickly found the relevant entry which made her pensive. She pulled up a map of the area. "There are four highways through the city. Which should we take?"

"Isn't there anything in the local news about a highway blocked or something?" Daniel mused.

"Haven't thought of that." She quickly pulled up the traffic information for the area. "Found it. Looks like they closed off quite a bit."

"Then we check this one out," Daniel stated the obvious. "You have to direct me."

Sam zoomed into the map. "Turn left at the next intersection, then keep to the right. The highway should be signposted."

They drove in silence for several moments until they reached the on-ramp. Then Teal'c offered, "I am not certain it has any relevance, but I just remembered some old lore that has been told from father to son and mother to daughter among the Jaffa."

Daniel glanced at his friend via the rear mirror. "Like the lore your people knew about the Ancients? Those proved true so why not this one either?"

Sam nodded, still busy researching the strange phenomenon of the meteorites. "If we learned anything at all over the last years, it is to never dismiss folklore as something unimportant."

"I agree, Colonel Carter," Teal'c said solemnly. "The following story I heard only once as a very small child and never again afterward; I can barely recall it. However, what I do remember is that there is a region in space that even the Goa'uld avoid – and not because it was once Ancient territory, because it wasn't. Apparently, even the Ancient's avoided this area. They call it No Man's Land. It is said that this area is inhabited by beings that no weapon can kill."

Hearing this, Sam's head jerked up. She stared at their alien friend. "They cannot be killed?" she asked, incredulous.

"That is what I remember," Teal'c replied, "but I cannot say whether there is any truth behind this lore – or if it has any significance to our current investigation. As common with our legends, they are only told to young Jaffa to be careful about where to go and what to do."

Daniel pursed his lips while overtaking a truck. "I'd like to presume this lore isn't just an old wife's tale but the truth and has enormous significance to what we're checking out."

"Then the jackpot question would be: How do you battle beings that cannot be killed by weaponry?" Sam leaned against her seat's backrest and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I simply cannot believe that there is nothing that can't kill such creatures. The Asgards were able to create technology to eject a Goa'uld from its host, and the Ancients developed the gate system. There must be at least _one_ weapon that can at least seriously wound someone. Anything else is scientifically not explainable."

Before the others had a chance to reply, they encountered a police block. Daniel drove to the side and parked, then he and Sam got out while Teal'c was to wait in the car. Several police men were busy redirecting the traffic, and two tried to keep onlookers at bay. When Sam and Daniel neared one of them, he turned around to shoo them away as well, but Sam showed him her Air Force ID and briefly explained that they had been sent by the government for investigations. Eventually, they were let through.

It became quickly obvious why the road was blocked. The asphalt was dented in regular intervals by what appeared to be giant footsteps. Neither Sam nor Daniel needed to say it aloud that although the shape of the footstep wasn't exactly the same as the one they had found at the impact site, the _size_ definitely was.

Before they could become engrossed in their investigations, a police man approached them. "Sir, ma'am," he said, "may I ask what you're doing here?"

Sam showed her ID again. "The Pentagon sent us," she explained. It was only half the truth, but details weren't important. "What exactly happened here?"

The man shrugged. "That's what we're trying to find out. We asked the population to contact us when they witnessed something, and there've been some pointers, but if you ask me, it all sounds like a prank someone's playing on us. They say they've seen a giant chased by a helicopter." He laughed before shaking his head incredulously. "As if giants exist."

Sam and Daniel shared a look that spoke volumes. Then she inquired, "Anything else or are these… dents all there is?"

Shrugging again, the police officer answered, "Someone reported a wrecked SUV further south from here, in the industrial area, just below the highway bridge. As it is off the road and not interrupting any traffic, we've been concentrating on this block."

"Then you probably won't mind if we check this out," Sam surmised with a winning smile.

The police man shook his head once. "Of course not, though I doubt the Pentagon's been interested in a wrecked car."

"You would be amazed what the Pentagon can be interested in," Daniel muttered under his breath, loud enough for only Sam to hear him. She sent him a brief grin. After taking some quick pictures of the footprints, they said their thanks and goodbyes.

Back in the car, Daniel followed the redirected traffic route until they found the sign pointing toward the industrial area. On their way there, they passed by the local football team stadium. Daniel would have driven on – no time for sightseeing – but Teal'c speaking up, "Colonel Carter, Daniel Jackson," made him stop.

Sam turned in her seat to look at him. "What is it?"

The Jaffa pointed out of the window. "Over there, by the building."

With the traffic going strong, they had no chance to get a good look at whatever Teal'c had noticed while moving. Therefore, they parked the car in the next gap, got out and crossed the street and almost immediately noticed what their friend had seen:

Just across from where they were parking, the letters on the roof of a car dealership were half demolished, and in front of the building, there was a sizeable dent in the pavement. Daniel whistled at the damage done. "If you ask me, it looks like something heavy dropped onto the concrete."

Sam looked up to the top of the building. "I agree, and my guess is that whoever or whatever created that crater is also responsible for the broken letters." She glanced back down and pointed to a dent outside the crater. "There's a footstep. It's smaller than the ones in the field and on the highway, but looks quite similar in form."

"So we have several aliens," Daniel concluded quietly while looking around to make sure they weren't overheard. "One crashed into the field, one wracked this garage which was shown in the news feed of last night's late news, and the third dented this pavement. So far, one meteorite equals an alien. Question is: Where did the fourth come down?"

"Beats me." Sam turned left. "Let's check out the stadium for now. Whatever dropped onto the pavement came over the roof. And behind the dealership is only the stadium."

They were lucky: the stadium was unlocked. In front of the main entrance stood a small truck and they encountered its owner inside the tunnel that led into the heart of the sports arena, deep in discussion with another man who might have been the manager. Not wanting to intrude or being thrown out in case they should not be there, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c climbed into the stands and stopped in the shadows of the overhang. From there they had a good look around. It only took them one sweep around the grandstand to notice the damage. "The meteorite apparently barreled into the wall up there," Sam said and pointed the other two, "then crashed into the playing field." As far as she could see from where they stood, Sam measured the impact crater's depth to be equal to the one in the field outside the town. "I'd say these meteorites were not only quite sizeable and heavy, they came in hot."

Daniel pulled out the camera and shot a few pictures to document their findings. That was when the stadium manager came upon them. "I hope you have permission for these photographs," he snapped, clearly not in the mood to be welcoming.

Retreat seemed in order. "We were already leaving," Sam hastily said – though not without brandishing her Air Force ID – before hurrying out, closely followed by the other two. Thankfully, the manager didn't pursue them.

"Where to now?" Daniel asked while quickly taking a few more pictures of the crater in the pavement and destroyed letters on the rooftop of the car dealership.

"Industrial area to check out the SUV the police man mentioned."

A little while later, they stood in front of the wrecked car beneath the bridge. "Wow," Daniel said when seeing the damage. "Someone's been pretty thorough with this one."

Sam took a few pictures of the site, license tag included, then pulled out her cell and called Major Davies. In the meantime, Daniel and Teal'c closed in and properly examined the vehicle. "Looks like something very powerful tore the roof off," Daniel noted. He glanced up at the Jaffa. "Maybe it really _is_ Nick's giants."

"Maybe, though I doubt it," Teal'c offered.

Daniel could only raise his eyebrows in surprise at his friend before both their attentions turned toward Sam when she barked into her cell, "Sector what? Say that again." There was a moment silence, then she said, "Never heard of it," and waved both over before putting the call on speaker.

" _There's not much info available,"_ Major Davies was saying, _"only that it had been founded a century ago."_

Daniel and Sam shared a look. "What about their occupation?" he asked.

" _There's nothing in the files except something about 'experimental development.' Quite fishy if you ask me."_

This caused another raised eyebrows. Daniel mused aloud, "Sounds like they're just what we're looking for."

Sam nodded. "Major, can you find out where their headquarters are located?"

" _Give me a moment, ma'am."_ The major put the phone aside and left them waiting for a few minutes. There was some indefinable noise in the background. Eventually, Major Davies returned and said, _"They're located out of Las Vegas, at Hoover Dam. As far as I could find out, access is granted only to a select few."_

They sighed, almost in unison. "Leave that to us," Sam said, feeling optimistic. "Thanks for the help so far."

" _Anytime, ma'am."_

They ended the call, but Sam was already dialing up another number. _"O'Neill,"_ came from the still activated speakers.

"Sir, this is Carter. We need access to Hoover Dam."

Silence. Sam, Daniel and Teal'c shared confused and worried looks.

After what felt like eternity, O'Neill asked, _"Why are you calling_ me _? Can't Major Davies help?"_

"Not with this, sir." She briefly explained what else they had found since the report earlier in the morning, among it what Major Davies had just told them about Sector Seven. "If this branch is secret enough that only a handful of people know about their existence, outside of Sector Seven I mean, then we need someone with contacts to the White House to get us access to Hoover Dam. And with all respect to Major Davies, he's not ranked high enough for that."

O'Neill sighed. _"You convinced me. Let me see what I can do, but it may take a while."_ He cut the connection before Sam could say something else.

While they waited for the return call, they finished inspecting the broken SUV, then headed back to their car. They had just gotten inside when O'Neill called. _"Little afterthought: While I'm trying to reach the SecDef or President, you could already head to Nellis. Makes it time-efficient."_

"Thanks, Jack!" Daniel called before Sam could reply.

Putting away her cell, Sam concluded, "All right, back to the airport. I doubt we'd get close enough to that wrecked garage. And for pictures we can always fall back to the news feed."

The return drive took about thrice as long as in the night; had the streets been busy before, now they were literally cramped. They saw an exceptionally high amount of radio and TV station cars on the road. Most of the time, they stood in a slow-going jam, and not even with the GPS they were able to find a side track that was less busy. That and not having had a proper sleep in over twenty-four hours didn't improve their moods at all. "God, one might think there's a festival or something going on with that many people on the road," Sam grouched when they were moving forward a few inches after having stood still for about fifteen minutes.

Instead of Daniel or Teal'c replying to that, Sam's cell rang. "Carter," she barked into it, without checking the ID.

" _Is it just me or are my calls that unpleasant to you?"_ came Major General O'Neill's voice. _"I can call later if now doesn't work."_

Sam sighed deeply and rubbed her eyes. "Sorry, sir. I'm just frustrated. We've been stuck in traffic for more than an hour and made only half a mile in that time."

" _Ouch, that sounds exciting."_ Anyone not knowing the general might have taken offense at his words, but after seven years of working side by side, Sam knew what he meant with what he said. _"Well, while you were busy waiting, I got the Pentagon on the phone. They had no clue what I was talking about,"_ he reported before musing aloud, _"Maybe I didn't explain it right."_

Sam couldn't help but smile. "Only a handful know, sir," she reminded him.

There came a sound like someone slapping their forehead with their palm. _"I_ knew _I was forgetting something…"_ He paused and Sam incredulously shook her head at his antics; trust the general to crack a joke at the most inopportune time. Then O'Neill continued, _"Anyway, they said SecDef Keller is too busy with the aftereffects of the attack on Soccent to be handing out tourist passes for Hoover Dam. Therefore, just go there, show your badge – and get in. Worked before."_

She raised an eyebrow. "This situation is not like others before, sir. What if we're held back this time?" Before she got an answer, though, the connection started to make white noise before it was cut completely. "Sir?" Sam asked, knowing it was futile.

"Colonel Carter, what happened?" Teal'c queried from the backseat.

Confused, Sam glanced at her cell. "Connection's been lost. Weird though; battery shows as fully charged."

"I doubt it's your cell that's malfunctioning," Daniel spoke up. He pointed at the radio – which was emitting the same white noise Sam had heard on her cell. "It went dead at approximately the same moment the call got cut."

"Hm." She powered up her laptop; it still worked. However, she no longer got an internet connection. "Okay… looks like it's a black-out. Locally? Or country-wide? And what do you think caused that?"

Daniel shrugged. "Beats me, but I'd bet a year's salary that it _isn't_ Nick's giants."

They sat in silence for a few moment, then Sam decided, "All right, we head back to the airport and hope the captain can fly us to Nellis. From there we go directly to Hoover Dam."


	4. Crosspoint

**Author Note:** Many thanks for your review, Major Simi. And thanks to all those who put me on their favorite and alert lists.

Here's the next instalment. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

* * *

– chapter three –

 **Crosspoint**

It was early-afternoon by the time they touched down on Nellis Air Force Base. Because of the black-out, they had no chance to call ahead to order a car being readied for them. It thus took about half an hour to find a suitable ride and maps, along with directions to Hoover Dam. "Damn that black-out," Sam grumbled once they were on their way. "It'd be easier with GPS."

"But we acquired a method of transport, Colonel Carter," Teal'c pointed out.

Sam sighed. "You're right. Still." She accelerated and smoothly slid into line on the highway. Next to her, Daniel rustled through the maps. She sent him a sideway glance. "Don't tell me we're on the wrong track and should have used the one further up."

"What?" he said, distracted. Seeing her glare, he hurried to say, "No, no, we're fine. Just follow this route and we'll get to Hoover Dam sooner or later."

"Daniel!"

He held up his hands. "Joking! I'm only joking. Sorry!" He glanced out of the window. "Seriously, that's the right track. Just keep going."

"Woe betide if we don't arrive at our destination," Sam warned.

He sighed. "We will, Sam, we will. Trust me."

They drove in silence then. Without a working radio due to the black-out, there was no music for some background noise – nor for some news – and they had long since finished discussing their findings in Tranquility. Time passed by quickly anyway, for Sam had to concentrate on the traffic. It wasn't as busy as on their return route to the airport in California but still busy enough. Eventually, when they had just left Las Vegas' busy traffic behind and the highway narrowed to a two-track, they were almost the only ones on route. The last two or three cars left the highway within five miles and then they were truly alone.

That was when Daniel announced, "Only about five more miles to Hoover Dam."

"At least something," Sam replied, weary. Concentrating for more than half an hour on traffic had nearly robbed her of her last energy reserves.

They didn't even make a quarter of the distance when a strange convoy – consisting of several Chenowths Desert Patrol Vehicles, two racing cars, a black monstrous pick-up, a Search & Rescue hummer and a semi with flames on the sides – appeared on the oncoming lane. A convoy was nothing to wonder about, but there were armed soldiers on the roof of the Chenowths, looking around and aiming skywards, as if fearing they were being followed by aircraft. But most estranging was another curiosity.

"There appear to be no drivers in some of those vehicles," Teal'c remarked. Sam and Daniel had a closer look – and truly, they saw two of the five civilian vehicles seemingly driving out of their own power.

Shocked and surprised at the same time, Sam braked hard, and they came to a stop just when they passed the convoy. All three got out of the car to stare after the vehicles that were quickly gaining distance, they were driving this fast.

"Sam?" Daniel asked, sounding anxious at the thought of losing sight of the convoy. "Should we follow them?" From the questioning look Teal'c sent her, he seemed to be in agreement with this idea.

Only Sam hesitated. Out of habit she pulled out her cell, wanting very much to call General O'Neill for input, but she still did not get a signal. "Dammit," she mumbled to herself, unsure of what to do now. Should they trail a convoy with seemingly driverless civilian vehicles, or should they go ahead as planned and head toward Hoover Dam to check out Sector Seven? For maybe the first time in her time with the Air Force she wished she wasn't the commanding officer on a mission and having to call the shots.

Daniel seemed to notice what was wrong. He came around the car and stood in front of her. "Sam," he said, his tone imploring, "if these… cars are the aliens we're looking for, we cannot let them get away. Hoover Dam has stood at the same place for 75 years. It will remain there. But these… aliens are gaining distance as we speak, and without radio, radar or whatever tracking technology available these days, we'll lose them."

"Daniel Jackson is correct, Colonel Carter," Teal'c chipped in. "Now that we know where these aliens are, we need to tail after them."

With two thirds of the team voting for following the convoy, Sam couldn't but agree. "All right, we give chase."

"Great!" Daniel hurried back around the car and got in, the other two mirroring his actions. "If I'm not mistaking, they were heading toward the city. Let's head back and see about finding them once we get there."

They rushed back the way they came, Sam always cutting it at the edge of the speed limit. She didn't know whether they even had a chance of catching up with them again, but it was worth a try. Besides, if push came to shove, she could rely on General O'Neill to set things right with authorities; after all, they were investigating for the Pentagon, sort of.

Contrary to their expectations, the convoy was easy to find again. "Do you think what I think?" Daniel asked when they had to slow upon noticing a congestion ahead.

"If you mean that this doesn't feel like a normal traffic accident, then yes, I'm thinking the same," Sam replied.

Teal'c didn't respond to the question but said, "There appears to be damage on the lower street level as well." Daniel craned his neck to see from where he sat on the passenger seat but Sam couldn't check it out lest she wanted to cause another accident.

Thankfully, the traffic was still rolling albeit slowly. When they drove by a burning shell of a minibus, Daniel whistled. "Okay, definitely not natural."

"I cannot but agree," Teal'c said.

They continued on in silence for a few moments, then Daniel pointed. "Get off the highway." Sam sent him a questioning glance but did as directed, even though she would have driven on if it had been her choice.

Before she got to ask him why he'd made her change directions, she saw it: Not far in front of them she recognized the convoy by the soldiers on the roofs of the Chenowths; the convoy had halted. "Sam?" Daniel warned.

"I see it," she replied and pulled over, coming to a stop on the curb approximately four blocks away.

"What now?" he then asked her in surprise. His expression clearly told her he hadn't counted on stopping this far away – or stopping at all.

"Now we go check out what they're doing," Sam replied, grabbed her ID and got out. Both her teammates scrambled to follow her.

As usual with a metropolitan, there were a lot of people in the streets, either going about their business or chilling in cafés. Apparently, they were in a sort of shopping mile for in-between the cafés there were shops of every kind, the offers ranging from clothing via tools to specialized food stores. Neither member of SG-1 had an idea what the convoy was doing here. The more they were surprised when they saw a soldier rush out of one of the shops, his hands full with equipment.

Sam squinted against the sunlight. "Aren't those shortwave radios?" she asked rhetorically.

"Looks like it," Daniel nonetheless answered, shading his eyes from the sunlight to get a better view.

"Why would they acquire outdated equipment?" Teal'c asked.

Sam started in the direction of the convoy. "The blackout must be larger than just local. Shortwave communication appears to be exempted."

They ran into a group of loudly chatting teenagers when crossing the first intersection which slowed down their approach drastically. Once on the other side, they saw the convoy head further down the street, bringing more distance between them. Sam swore under her breath. Daniel suggested, "Let's head back to the car to follow them." Sam nodded and they turned around.

Soon after, they were once again in pursuit. They didn't get far.

For one, almost in front of them, a fighter jet, a F-22, came barreling down the street, pulling up skyward only feet in front of them, making Sam hit the brake hard on reflex. Secondly, a tank appeared from left at the next intersection and turned onto their street, effectively blocking it.

Thirdly, the F-22 took a U-turn and was heading back to where the convoy had come to a halt. Sam saw green smoke rise from up ahead, recognizing it as a way to point the pilot into the right direction. The problem was – the jet didn't appear to be friendly: Sam could clearly see the null ray cannons primed and ready to be released at a second's warning when the jet flew over them.

Adrenaline started rushing through her. With the scene identified as apparently hostile, Sam switched to autopilot from years in service; she got out of the car and immediately started issuing orders at the passers-by to leave the area as fast as they could. Naturally, people either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her warnings. A couple of teenage boys even flipped her off. She didn't have time to worry about them anymore, though, for in the very next moment, the street up ahead exploded when the F-22's missiles struck close to the convoy.

The shockwave pulled her off her feet, despite her not being at the center of the detonation. All around them, windows broke and glass shards rained down on the street. Sam reflexively covered her head with her arms. People started screaming in panic and pain.

When the worst of the aftermath was over and the dust started to settle, Sam carefully lifted her head to assess the situation. She found both Daniel and Teal'c right next to her in similar positions. The Jaffa was already starting to get up while Daniel shook his head as if to clear it, blinking a bit in confusion. "What the hell was that?" he muttered.

"Daniel Jackson, Colonel Carter," Teal'c said, catching their attentions.

Sam climbed back onto her feet and looked into the direction the Jaffa pointed – down the street. The Chenowths were more or less in scrambles, but that most likely wasn't what he wanted to show them.

It was a black robot, approximately the size of Nick's giants as soon as it had stood up to full height. And close-by to it, Sam could discern a second, yellow robot crawl across the street. "Oh my God…" she breathed. Next to her, Daniel stared speechlessly.

The tank down the street started moving toward the robots and fired several times. She ducked out of reflex, quickly looking around to assess her possibilities. Due to civilians running away from the blast zone, she at first had some difficulties seeing anything at all, but eventually, she could discern that the soldiers that came with the convoy were taking cover behind the scrambled Chenowths or street rubble. The silver sports car and Search & Rescue vehicles were quickly closing in on the tank though. The black robot changed into the black monster pick-up and drove down the street after the other two cars. The tank fired again and should have hit the pick-up's windshield dead center, but the car shifted forms again. Sam could only stare at the robot performing a somersault with the help of what appeared to be two massive cannons, one each attached to the robot's arms, before returning fire. The other two vehicles started changing into robots as well, and all three robots attacked the tank which too changed into a robot. The Search & Rescue robot amputated one of the tank robot's arms with a huge saw which came out of its arm. That and the shots from the other two robots eventually felled the tank robot.

 _What the hell is going on here?_ she wondered, already in motion toward the scene of battle. She needed a weapon and she needed it fast, and the only current place she'd find one were the soldiers from the convoy.

Crossing by the felled tank robot, the Search & Rescue robot suddenly shouted something like "Megatron" and "retreat". Just a moment later, another robot, much more alien in design and taller than the ones she'd seen so far, stepped into the scene from a by-road. The smallest robot, the silver sports vehicle, immediately took up the battle against the newcomer.

Sam noticed two things in one: The smaller robot stood no chance against the large one and she had the feeling it knew, yet that it tried nonetheless told much about that robot's standing among its comrades. It was very much what every senior officer would do for their team when a situation got dire. Which made her wonder just what kind of robots they were. If they had something akin to the US military hierarchy, these robots had to be a really advanced species.

Her musing got interrupted when said silver robot got pushed aside by the big alien robot, landing at the opposite side of the street – right in front of her. She stopped before colliding with the robot, her mind already looking for a way around it and out of harm of the big alien that was marching toward them. The silver robot started getting up, groaning, and briefly met her eyes. "Get outta here!" it implored in a surprisingly heavy, indefinable accent but otherwise clear English. Then the robot swiftly got back to its feet and charged its opponent head on.

She had seen many strange things on even stranger planets during the years she had worked for the SGC. But the fight in front of her made all her previous experiences insignificant. Despite the size difference, the silver robot was agile and sidestepped or blocked most of his opponent's blows, making the big alien angry; Sam could see the snarl getting more and more furious.

Eventually, the big alien succeeded in grabbing the silver robot, jumped into the air and flew off. Until they were out of view, she saw the captured one continued shooting at its opponent. Sam hoped she'd see the silver robot again; she wanted to talk to it and learn all she could. But something told her there would be no other meeting.

"Sam!" Daniel shouted.

She turned around. He was running toward her, now that the immediate danger of the big alien had disappeared with it flying off.

"Are you all right?" he asked as soon as he was at her side.

"Yes." She nodded. "I'm just fine. What about you and Teal'c?"

Daniel gestured over his shoulder. "We're fine too. Helped a few people back on their feet to make a run for it. Teal'c's been carrying an elderly lady to someplace safe." He took a deep breath of air. "What about you? I about had a heart attack when you started charging toward the battle."

That reminded Sam of her original purpose. "Sorry, but I have to help. I'll try to get to the soldiers."

Daniel gave her a rueful smile. "Military through and through." He patted her shoulder. "Be careful."

She sent him a smile in response. "Thanks, Daniel. You two too."

"Of course. See you later then." He turned around and hurried back from where he came, urging people to get up and follow him to someplace safer.

Sam too turned around and continued heading toward the mangled Chenowths.

* * *

 **Author Note:** I realize that in the 2007 Transformers movie it said the battle took place in Mission City. However, even though I am a stickler to canon, I am also a stickler to real locations and place names, preferring using them if possible. With Tranquility it was relatively easy to cover up the fact that I used Fresno for the movie city Tranquility – simply because there is a village/small town close to Fresno which is called Tranquillity. But Mission City posed a problem. I even watched and rewatched the 2007 movie again and again to find more geographical hints where exactly Mission City might be located.

In the end I chose Las Vegas to be Mission City – simply for the following reasons: First, Roberto Orci (one of the two script writers) said they "toyed around with the idea of ending the first movie in Vegas". Secondly, in the novel to the movie, the convoy was headed for Nellis Air Force Base and explicitly named Las Vegas as well. Last but not least, even though Las Vegas downtown is 33 miles from Hoover Dam and Will Lennox said Mission City is located 22 miles away, he could still have meant Las Vegas because its neighboring cities Whitney and Henderson are approx. 22 miles away from Hoover Dam. Politically they might not count as suburbs, but when looking at the map, they appear as parts of Las Vegas, not cities in their own rights. Besides, their relative sizes compared to Las Vegas eliminate them from the list of possible Mission City locations, leaving Las Vegas as the only option really.

Additionally, hypothetically, 'Mission City' might be the military code name for Las Vegas because of Nellis Air Force Base located in the north of the city and with the Nellis Air Force Range not too far away either. But like I said, that's purely hypothetic.


	5. Of Aliens and Heroes

**Author Note:** Many thanks to copperspider005, ww1990ww und Telron for reviewing as well as all those who favorited the story and/or put it on their alerts. I'm glad so many people like the story.

Enjoy the next instalment!

* * *

– chapter four –

 **Of Aliens and Heroes**

The closer Sam got to her goal, the more she learned about the soldiers in front of her. The squad was apparently well-coordinated, telling her the members had a history with each other. However, her approach slowed a little when she heard a noise behind her. She threw a glance over her shoulder and stopped completely, blanching. The felled tank was rising to its feet again. Determination to help rose to new heights and she hurried on forward, intent on reaching the soldiers before the tank robot got back to its feet.

As soon as she rounded one of the mangled Chenowths, she could finally identify the commanding officer; for one, the insignia on his uniform betrayed his rank – an army captain from the looks of it – and secondly, he was the one handing out orders before running off in the opposite direction. "Sam!" he called, making her wonder how he could know her name. Just then, she saw that he was headed for a tow truck onto which two teenagers, a boy and a girl, were hooking the yellow robot. _Civilians!_ Sam thought with dismay.

Before she could come up with a solution of how to get the teens out of the danger zone, the captain came already running back from further down the street, wearing a resolute expression. He immediately started talking to the boy, all the while gesturing wildly into the direction from which he had just returned. Inexplicably, the boy seemed to argue with him, resulting in the captain grabbing the front of the teen's shirt and shouting, "Listen to me, you're a soldier now!" More heated words were exchanged, and then he pushed an oversized dice into the boy's hands. That seemed to be the decisive reason for the boy to cooperate. The girl wouldn't be as easily convinced though; she stood up to the soldier, and it was the captain who eventually relented.

Taking Sam completely off guard were the black robot and the one posing as the Search & Rescue vehicle; they crowded around the boy, the black one even saying to the teen, "Sam, we will protect you." It made Sam wonder how the boy – Sam – came to be involved in the middle of all this.

Her musings got interrupted when the captain stepped up to her. "You have to get out of here, lady," the man said and lifted an arm, as if wanting to reach for her to maybe push her onward. "It'll become very unpleasant here in a moment."

Sam didn't give him the opportunity. She pulled out her ID and showed it to the now surprised soldier. "Thanks for your concern, captain, but I came here to help. I'm not going to go anywhere anytime soon."

He immediately snapped to stand at attention. "Of course, ma'am. My apologies."

Stowing her ID back in her pocket and simultaneously waving a dismissal, Sam asked, "What can you tell me about the robots? How do we fight them?"

He gave her a very brief but concise summary, concluding with, "Our best shot are sabot rounds – anything that burns really hot. Their armor is thick and it needs well-placed heat to get through to where they're vulnerable."

Sam nodded. "Understood, Captain…"

"Lennox, ma'am. William Lennox, US Army. At your service."

"Do you have a weapon for me, Captain Lennox?" One of the soldiers handed her one, and then a voice called through the streets, "Decepticons, attack!"

Normally, it would be her that was in command of the squad. But even with the briefing, she had no experience with fighting against these robots. The captain and his men apparently had, so she handed the command back. "Point me, I'll do the shooting." Nodding grimly, Lennox stationed her and his men, and then the battle commenced in earnest.

They exchanged weapons fire with the tank, the soldiers hitting their goals more often than the tank, but the tank's shots were far more destructive. What parts of the street had remained intact until now exploded and created potholes of differing sizes. The mounts of concrete rubble quickly formed a maze on the street.

Sam ducked whenever they drew enemy fire before taking aim afterward. She tried hitting the areas that weren't covered with heavily looking metal plates, without much success it seemed. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed Lennox looking over his shoulder before starting to swear under his breath. Sam ducked another enemy shot. "Girl, get that tow truck out of here!" Lennox just then called angrily at where the other teen was still hooking up the yellow robot to the tow truck. Only now did Sam see the extensive damage to the yellow robot's legs the fighter jet's null rays had caused. She couldn't help but be impressed at the teen's stoic consideration she showed the yellow robot. "Get outta here now!" Lennox repeated. But only after having fully secured the robot the girl got into the truck and drove away.

Suddenly, the semi with flames on its sides appeared from a side street and changed into another robot! Sam exhaled shakily; just how many were they? But the big alien that had flown of with the small silver robot earlier immediately came barreling down the street. The semi robot lunged up and grabbed the big alien's wings, and together, they disappeared further down the street. Sam had no time to worry about them anymore; the tank increased its firing rate.

Lennox started gesturing toward the right to seek more cover than what the street rubble could provide. Sam followed, all the while shooting at the tank whenever she could. They ended up in a café, but it was beyond recognition. The windows were shattered, the tables overturned, and one of the interior walls had come down. Thankfully, the guests had long since taken to their heels.

Their battle quickly morphed into a standoff. The tank continued demolishing whatever his shots hit, while Sam and the soldiers fired what they had. One of the enemy shots aimed at Lennox soared over his head and brought down a second interior wall. The ceiling over their heads groaned at the loss of stability, releasing lots of dust and bigger plaster parts that rained down on them, but it – thankfully – still held. "Oh, this isn't going well!" Lennox remarked.

Suddenly, the tank drew fire – from the opposite side. Its attention turned away, giving the soldiers an opening to hit the less armored flank beneath an arm. Sam quickly reloaded her weapon and fired several times in succession, mirroring the other soldiers. But in the end, it was the additional firing that felled the tank. Sam jumped backward when the robot came crashing into the café. Her eyes fell onto two red glowing orbs that started flickering before going black.

Carefully, one by one, the soldiers got closer to the tank. In that moment, the tow truck with the yellow robot hooked up appeared outside the café. The right arm of the yellow robot had been exchanged for a weapon, and with a finger of the left hand it lifted what appeared to be a face mask evaluatingly before retracting it fully. A moment later, the teenage girl rounded the tow truck and looked into the café.

"That tank is definitely dead now," the man to Sam's right noted after having prodded it several times with his foot.

"All right, let's go! We got business!" Lennox ordered, directing them out of the ruined building and down the street.

The girl hesitated a moment, then turned to dash for the driver's side of the tow truck. Sam had an inkling what the teen wanted to do but she couldn't allow it. She went after her. "Hey!" she called, stopping the girl from climbing into the truck. "What you did here was very brave – but also very foolish. Stay here. Leave the rest to us, okay?"

Her expression hardened. "You'll need Bumblebee if you want to fight the rest of them," she argued. "He's an excellent shot."

 _He? Huh._ Sam threw the yellow robot a glance; it— he looked right back at her. The metal face was impossible to read, but she thought she could correctly interpret the gleam in the eyes. Turning back to the girl, Sam allowed, "Probably, but would he be happy about a victory if you died while helping?"

The girl's expression became pensive and she looked at the robot— Bumblebee. He nodded in what Sam would call an encouraging nod. Eventually, the girl sighed. "Fine, I'll stay here."

Sam briefly clapped her shoulder. "Good girl. See you later." Then she hurried after the soldiers.

They had not gotten far when she caught up with them. A moment later, Lennox directed them down an alley, making Sam wonder where he was headed. Then she heard it: metal clanging on metal, and she thought she knew his goal. But before they could step out on the next bigger by-road, she heard a helicopter coming down that very same street, and sure enough, the aircraft appeared in front of them a heartbeat later.

Curiously, Lennox signaled them to stop immediately and be silent, his eyes hefted on the helicopter. 'What's the matter?' was on the tip of her tongue, but Sam got her answer when the aircraft suddenly morphed into another robot. She gulped down the gasp of surprise before it could escape. _Just how many kinds of vehicles can these robots mimic?_ she thought.

The heli-robot immediately pulled out a weapon of some kind and walked down the by-road toward where the fighting sounds were coming from. A wave of relief swept over the soldiers, Sam included; she hadn't even noticed having tensed. "Fighter jets in sixty seconds," a dark-skinned Air Force Technical Sergeant announced to the squad, then spoke into his radio, "We got friendlies mixed with bad guys. Targets will be marked."

Lennox took a step forward to keep the heli-robot in view while clapping the sergeant on the shoulder. "Bring the rain." He turned toward the rest of them. "All right, let's kill these things." He headed out toward an abandoned motorcycle while Sam and the other soldiers looked for spots that provided cover.

"Move, move, move!" the sergeant urged from behind Sam, and she quickly ducked behind a vehicle. The sergeant plopped down next to her.

"Remember, aim low. Armor's weak under the chest," Lennox advised, then propped up the motorcycle before swinging onto it.

The sergeant pulled out a laser pointer and hefted it on the heli-robot. "Target marked," he then spoke into the radio. "Still waiting."

" _Time on target 20 seconds_ ," came the reply. The accompanying sounds identified the speaker as a pilot.

Sam got herself into a better position, prepping her weapon and taking aim at the heli-robot. Through the visual she could clearly see the spots in-between armor plates where a hit would leave the most damage, just like Lennox had said. Her finger tightened on the trigger but didn't release it yet.

"F-22s, we're still waiting," the sergeant mumbled half to himself, half into the radio.

The jets would be too late, no matter what, for in that moment, the pointed laser wandered too high, grabbing the heli-robot's attention. It squealed loudly and turned toward the soldiers, took aim and fired.

The sergeant shouted, "Move out! Incoming!" in warning, then the street in front of her exploded. Sam pulled the trigger while simultaneously, out of reflex, pushing herself to the side. She rolled across the asphalt, debris falling down all around her, before she came to lie on her stomach by pure chance. She quickly hefted the weapon back on her target and unleashed a volley.

Once her current munition was depleted, she got up and ran for cover again, noticing out of the corner of her eyes that Lennox was racing toward the robot on the motorcycle. _He must have a death wish_ , she thought with a slight shake of her head while her fingers were already busy reloading her weapon.

Eventually, _finally_ , the fighter jets they had been waiting for barreled down the street and unleashed their fire on the heli-robot. Sam watched with half worry, half incredulity how Lennox deliberately let the motorcycle crash to the ground, his momentum making him slide across the asphalt – right through the robot's legs. The captain was shouting something indefinable and fired his own weapon upward at the underside of the robot several times. That – combined with the jets' volley – quickly downed the robot which emitted another electronic squeal before the red optics blinked out.

Warily, Sam slowly stood up, keeping her eyes hefted on the robot, not quite trusting it was dead just yet. Behind the wreckage, Lennox came to stand on his feet again at the same time. He threw the robot a disgusted look before signaling his squad to follow him. The men around Sam headed his order without question, so she opted to follow him without comment.

When they arrived at the battle at the intersection, she identified the two combatants as the big alien-looking robot and the robot posing as a semi with painted flames. The former seemed to have the upper hand as the latter appeared quite battered and hardly able to keep his opponent from landing blows to his chassis. Lennox didn't hesitate with taking aim and firing at the big alien robot, coming to the semi robot's aid. His men mimicked him and the sergeant pointed his laser once more before using the radio to vector in the fighter jets.

Sam, however, took no part in this battle; she had spied the teenage boy, the other Sam, ducking low in a rip in the street, clearly seeking cover from the fight raging above him, and opted to try to rescue him. She was now heading in his direction while trying to not get in the combatants' way. This made the approach to pull the kid out of the danger zone quite hazardous but her sense of duty would not allow her to fail. The life of a civilian depended on her so she continued on as quickly as she was able, more so when the kid decided to leave the relative shelter of the rip and climbed back onto street level.

Suddenly, the fighter jets came barreling down the street and fired at the big alien robot. A few of the missiles went astray and hit the asphalt. The resulting shock wave nearly pulled Sam off her feet though she regained her balance quickly. The teen was not so lucky. Above him, the big alien robot writhed while parts of its armor burned, but it didn't keel over. Instead, it noticed the teen and ran for him. The semi robot stopped the advance; it tripped its fellow robot, making it crash onto the street with a resounding clang.

But it was not over yet. The big alien robot worked itself up onto its elbows, then reached for the kid that suddenly was right in front of it. "Mine! All spark!" it growled.

From behind the boy, the semi robot rolled from its back to the front, its chassis opening up a little. "Sam!" it called urgently to the teen that was crawling backwards, away from the big alien robot. "Put the Cube in my chest! Now!" The boy was still hesitating so the robot urged, "Sam!"

Then, as if those words were some sort of trigger, the expression of the teen changed from scared to determined. He almost sprang to his feet with renewed vigor and _made for the enemy_! Sam about had a heart attack, as did the semi robot. "No! Sam!" it shouted.

But the kid didn't listen. He raised the dice above his head at exactly the moment the big robot leaned over him.

To Sam's – and probably everyone else's – surprise the dice started dissolving in a pillar of light and flames that shot upward, hitting the robot dead center. It started yelling, the frame convulsing – like a human in death throes. Then it crashed onto its back where it continued spasming for another moment before coming to lie very still. A moment later, the red optics flickered out.

* * *

 **Author Note:** Reviews are love.


	6. Aftermath

**Author Note:** Many thanks to LGTracy, guestnobody, Robo Reader 21, Telron and ww1990ww for leaving reviews. I'm always looking forward to receiving your feedback.

* * *

– chapter five –

 **Aftermath**

The teen stood rooted to the spot, gasping and shaking like a leaf in the wind, then he sank to the ground in a graceless heap, exhaustion written all over him. Sam rushed to his side to see whether he was fatally harmed. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed the soldiers carefully converging in on them, though Lennox held out his hand and said, "Hold up."

"I'm okay," the boy told her when she crouched down in front of him. He sounded shaky and weak but otherwise seemed indeed all right. At least Sam couldn't find anything that would make him drop dead the next moment.

A mechanical rumbling to her left caught Sam's attention; the semi robot was slowly climbing back to its feet before coming closer. It was _huge_! Truly a giant worth of that title. Being that close to it Sam grew very wary of the danger it posed – friendly or not. One wrong step and they would be goo on the asphalt. But the robot stopped at the head of its dead combatant, looking at it with a… _forlorn? …_ expression. That brought her up short.

"You left me no choice… brother," the robot then said quietly but loud enough for her to hear.

Brother. If the dead alien and the semi robot were related like Sam was with her brother Marc, it created a whole new dimension to these… beings – both in regard to their species as well as to the battle they had been fighting.

The semi robot turned toward Sam and the teen before crouching down to be more on eye level. "Sam, I owe you my life," it said to the boy. "We are in your debt."

Its response was a shaky exhale.

Sam got back to her feet, then held out her hand to the kid. The boy looked at her curiously for a moment before taking it to be pulled up. "Thanks," he said quietly.

Just then, from all directions, more robots were converging in on their current position. The teenage girl with the tow truck and the yellow alien named Bumblebee were there, as well as the aliens posing as Search & Rescue and black pickup vehicles. The latter was carrying their silver comrade. Sam could barely stifle a gasp; the silver robot was ripped in half. "Prime, we couldn't save him," the black one was addressing the semi just then.

"Oh Jazz…" Pained grief flickered across the metallic face before it became solemn. Panels moved and a gush of air rushed out of the robot's body. The semi turned toward Lennox, his men, the kids, the other robots and, finally, Sam. "We lost a great comrade but gained new ones. Thank you, all of you. You honor us with your bravery."

What did someone say to that? Sam got lost in thought, hardly hearing the yellow robot, Bumblebee, asking for permission to remain with Sam, the teen.

Lennox caught her eyes before stepping up to her. "Thanks for the help, ma'am," he said, dutifully handing command back to her now that the battle was over.

Sam took a deep breath. "My thanks to you, Captain. Without you and your men, I wouldn't have had the slightest idea where to begin."

"Yes, ma'am, thank you."

She nodded, then gestured over her shoulder at where the semi and pickup robots where standing, watching them, whilst the Search & Rescue was crouching next to the yellow robot to inspect the damaged legs. "If you could introduce us?"

He straightened a little. "I would if I knew them myself, ma'am." He looked over to the teens as if wanting to ask for their help, but the semi robot took the initiative.

"If I may?" it started, taking a step in Sam's and Lennox's direction before once more crouching down to be more on eye level. "My name is Optimus Prime, and I am the commander in charge. We are Autonomic Robotic Organisms from the planet Cybertron." He paused for a moment, then added, "You may call us Autobots for short."

Sam narrowed her eyes pensively; apparently, there was more to the title 'Autobot' than it just being an acronym. She made a mental note to ask the aliens later, leaving it be for now. "And they are?" she then asked, pointing at the dead alien's frame a few feet away.

Optimus Prime didn't even look at the other robot. "They are Decepticons, our enemies."

"Are they from Cybertron too?"

"Yes. We are of the same species." Sam merely nodded in acknowledgement and gestured at him, wordlessly asking him to continue the introductions. "That is Ironhide, my weapons specialist," Optimus Prime promptly said while pointing behind himself to the black robot. He then called Sam's and Lennox's attentions toward the Search & Rescue and yellow robots with another gesture. "And these are my Chief Medical Officer Ratchet and one of our scouts, Bumblebee."

Sam's lips twitched at the introduction of the CMO; he was currently loudly cussing out his smaller comrade while rendering first aid with sure swift movements. _Apt name_ , Sam thought, amused. Whatever Bumblebee had done, he had the decency to look chastised at the strong-going tirade.

Turning back to Optimus Prime, Sam introduced herself, "Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter, United States Air Force. Nice to meet you." She then gestured at the soldier next to her. "And this is Captain William Lennox, US Army Rangers."

"What she said."

"The pleasure of your acquaintance is mine," the leader of the Autobots replied.

Lennox pointed at the dead silver robot in Ironhide's arms. "He gave his life to save ours." It was a statement and query at the same time.

The bot's expression became wistful. "My first lieutenant and very good friend, Jazz. He did what he had to do." That confirmed Sam's earlier suspicions that the silver robot had been a commanding officer. She made another mental note to dig for more details on their hierarchy.

"Our condolences for your loss," Lennox said before Sam could.

"Thank you." Optimus Prime nodded solemnly. "And thank you for all that you did for us, all of you. I can possibly never repay you for that, especially in light of the destruction our fight brought to your city."

Lennox dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "After the Decepticons destroyed Soccent, it got personal. I'd do it again in a similar situation." Sam found she couldn't but agree to that attitude.

The robot nodded solemnly. "We would like to offer our help in rebuilding." He hesitated for a moment before adding a touch more softly, "We would also like to ask permission to remain on your planet."

That took not only Lennox and Sam by surprise; Optimus Prime's comrades looked up startled at that. "But, Optimus, we —" Ironhide began but was cut off with a sharp gesture of his leader's hand.

The captain glanced in Sam's direction. "I'm afraid that's not my call to make," he told the bot before deferring to Sam. "Colonel?"

Sam didn't offer a verbal reply right away. She pulled out her cell to call General O'Neill, but she still got no reception. She sighed. "It's not my call either. Unfortunately, as long as there's still the blackout, we can't hope to communicate with the higher ups that do have the say whether or not your request for staying is granted."

Optimus Prime nodded once. "I understand." He regarded Sam's cell closely for a moment, then said, "If you allow, we might be able to help you with your communication system's shutdown."

Lennox looked like he was about to blurt out an enthusiastic 'Yes!' before remembering Sam had command now. "Please," she agreed much more dignified, glad to get this problem solved. Turning to the captain, she then said, "We should get the… what were they called, Decepticons?" Lennox nodded, so Sam continued, "We should get them transported to Nellis as quickly as possible. The Autobots too." She looked at Optimus Prime. "No offence, but I'd rather have you under cover before more civilians start getting involved and we have a mass panic on our hands."

"No offence taken," the robot responded gently. "I fully understand your position."

"Good. As soon as we've removed the extraterrestrials, we'll start cleaning up the place. In the meanwhile, we should see to the injured civilians and get medical treatment for all of them." She pointed at the teens hovering over Bumblebee. "They too. And while you're at it, make sure the boy gets checked for head trauma."

"Yes, ma'am." Lennox stood at attention, acknowledging her orders, then he called toward the teens, "Hey, Sam!"

Both boy and girl turned at the address and came over upon request. "Yes?" the kids asked in unison.

Lennox gestured at Sam. "I'd like to introduce you to Colonel Carter from the US Air Force."

"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am," the girl greeted quite formally. "I'm Mikaela Banes."

"Likewise," Sam returned and shook her offered hand.

The boy nodded his head in agreement. "Samuel James Witwicky. Call me Sam please, Colonel."

Shaking his hand as well, Sam flashed him a brief smile. "That'll cause quite a confusion; my friends call me Sam too."

The kids chuckled at that, relaxing marginally much to Sam's relief. She didn't want them to be afraid of her. It would make later meetings much more awkward and unnecessarily difficult.

"You two will come with me," Lennox then told the adolescents. "I'll get the both of you to be seen by a doctor." The kids grimaced at that but didn't object when the captain shooed them toward where the dark-skinned tech sergeant stood, waiting for Lennox's orders.

Before Sam dismissed the man, however, she said, "As soon as we have reception again, I'll call General O'Neill. He'll cover the political side."

"He's Air Force, ma'am?" the captain asked.

"Yes, and one of the best for the job ahead of us."

"Which is…? If I may ask?"

Sam grunted. "Dealing with unusual occurrences." She received a baffled look at that comment, but didn't react to it. "You have your orders, Captain. See to them."

Lennox smartly saluted. "Yes, ma'am." Then he headed back toward his men to set things in motion.

Optimus Prime was regarding her thoughtfully, the plates at the sides of his helm where human ears would be slowly rotating. "We are not the first extraterrestrials you come across," he eventually stated quietly so that only she could hear, yet Sam had the feeling it was supposed to be a question.

Before replying, she subjected him to a similar scrutiny. "No, you are not." She couldn't quite keep the defensive tone out of her voice, wondering how the alien would react to that.

The only reaction was the bot's blue optics brightening significantly at the revelation. "It seems there is more to your race than meets the eye," was his response.

Sam sent him a mysterious smile. "If only you knew, Optimus Prime."

His engine briefly rumbled in what she thought was a chuckle, though if it was in response to her tone or words she couldn't fathom. Then he said, "Just call me Optimus, Colonel Carter."

"All right, if you call me Carter."

The metallic face shifted into what Sam thought was supposed to be a smile. "I believe that can be arranged." Optimus then carefully backed off to stand. "Whatever you want us to do, we'll do it. You just have to say it."

In that moment, two of Lennox's men returned with two trucks, each pulling an empty container. Sam turned toward the Autobots. "Could you please help us with loading the Decepticons?"

Optimus nodded. "Of course." He gestured at Ironhide who laid down Jazz's dead shell next to Sam, then the two aliens quickly took care of rounding up any incriminating evidence of giant alien robots fighting in a human city. Ratchet too assisted, apparently having completed his field repairs.

Once the container doors were closed, Optimus went back to Sam. "Anything else we can do?"

Glad to have gotten the Autobots' cooperation without a fuss, she first thanked him and then said, "Resuming your… vehicle forms would be nice, to diminish the chance that any more civilians catch sight of you." She paused for a heartbeat, pensive whether or not she could properly explain her reasoning for that request, then said, "Trust me when I say we know how people react when possibly facing an alien invasion."

Optimus nodded. "Understood." Then his frame started shifting and seemingly bending in on itself until the blue semi with flames on its sides stood before her. Sam watched in fascination, intending to ask about that ability the first chance she got. Ironhide stepped forward a moment later to pick up Jazz, then changed back into his pickup form, the dead frame miraculously coming to lie in the pickup's bed. It would be easy to simply conceal the mortal remains with a tarp – if they found one that was. Lennox's men proved resourceful, however, and the pickup's bed was soon covered, Jazz's shell perfectly hidden beneath.

When Lennox walked up to Sam's side again, the semi's engine's purr intensified. "You said you wanted us to retreat to Nellis Air Force Base," came Optimus' voice from the truck. "Would you like me to take you along?"

Sam blinked in bafflement. It was one thing to have friendly aliens willing to submit to her command. It was another story entirely to be offered to hitch a ride in them! "Thanks, but no. I'll remain here to start cleanup."

"If you don't mind, we'd take you up on the offer," Lennox said. His response was both the semi and the pickup opening their doors wide to allow for soldiers to climb in. Lennox grinned and turned to the tech sergeant. "Epps, take them to Nellis and get them into one of the aircraft hangars. We'll meet you there in a while."

"Yes, sir."

"Thanks," Lennox said.

Once everyone was seated, Optimus replied, "You're welcome, Captain." Then both he and Ironhide headed off, closely followed by Ratchet who was carrying one more soldier and the tow truck, driven by Mikaela with Samuel on the passenger seat. To Sam's surprise, Lennox's men had even found a tarp big enough to fully cover Bumblebee. It wasn't perfect, the bot's frame causing an interesting shape, but it would be enough until the aliens were under cover at the base.

With three soldiers gone, eight – discounting Sam and Lennox – remained to see to the cleanup. Sam quickly gave everyone directions, using the shortwave radios the tech sergeant had left behind to communicate – at least until her cell vibrated in her pocket, announcing an incoming text message. Sam fished out the device and stared in wonderment at the screen.

 _The virus having caused your communication system's shutdown has been fully eradicated. You are now free to use proper means of communication again. OP_

"These guys are awesome," Lennox mumbled next to her, having read the message over her shoulder.

"Indeed. That was fast." She pulled up her contacts list and dialed the SGC. "Colonel Carter here," she said when Master Sergeant Harriman picked up, surprised that they got reception again. "Put me through to General O'Neill please."

…

About an hour later Daniel and Teal'c finally found her. From afar, both looked unhurt, but once close enough, Sam noticed bruises on either of them. Apparently, neither had walked away unharmed from the battle. At least they were all still alive. Sam introduced both to Lennox before the captain headed back to oversee the cleanup crews that arrived in just that moment.

Daniel took in the destruction of the intersection with wide eyes. "That must have been a helluva battle," he commented after a few moments. Teal'c took in the scene quietly, saying nothing.

Sam took a deep breath before exhaling again, releasing the last tension from her body and mind. "It was," she then admitted. "I'm glad that's over, but I feel there's so much more ahead of us."

"The aliens?" Daniel asked.

"Yes. I had them brought to Nellis and out of view for the time being. It's been enough that civilians got caught in a battle that should never have been fought in a city."

Daniel briefly touched her arm. "No need to explain yourself to us, Sam."

"Daniel Jackson is correct, Colonel Carter," Teal'c agreed.

Sam sent them a small smile. "Thanks, guys. Their leader, Optimus Prime, resolved the issue with the blackout for us. I already contacted General O'Neill. He said he'll take things up with the proper authorities. We are to head over to Nellis at our earliest convenience and try to get on good grounds with our extraterrestrial visitors."

Daniel glanced over to where Lennox and his men were busy helping the cleanup crews. "Well then, hand command to someone else and we can be off. I'd like a long nap before meeting this Optimus Prime and his robotic comrades."

"Indeed."

As Sam couldn't but agree to both her teammates' assessment, she did as suggested and handed command back to Lennox. The captain seemed surprised at first, but quickly stepped up to the task. "If I may, Colonel," the soldier said before Sam could leave, "but you should get some rest. You look about to fall asleep where you stand."

"That bad, huh?" was Sam's reply. She didn't wait for the captain's response before heading to the car where Daniel and Teal'c were waiting for her.


	7. Visitors From Heaven

**Author Note:** Many thanks to Telron and Robo Reader 21 for their reviews, as well as to all those who favorited the story and/or put it on their alert.

Here's now the final chapter and before last instalment. I hope you enjoy! Reviews are love.

* * *

– chapter six –

 **Visitors From Heaven**

They had reached Nellis Air Force Base quickly enough, considering that there was hell on the streets. People were evacuating the city, and Sam couldn't blame them. Yet despite the masses on the move, the process had been smooth, the traffic rolling steadily.

The guards at the gate had been waiting for them, most likely tipped off by Sergeant Epps. Sam and her comrades were grateful, even more so when an airman of mid-twenty had led them to personal quarters rather than the hangar where the alien guests were surely housed. "Sergeant Epps is taking a nap, ma'am, as are his comrades," the airman had offered on inquiry. "The sergeant suggested you might want to take one too." The airman had then blushed, betraying his young age.

Sam smiled. "Thanks, Airman. We appreciate the consideration. If you could wake us in… two hours?" She glanced at Daniel and Teal'c who both nodded.

"Yes, ma'am, of course."

When Sam eventually awoke on her own and asked the airman waiting in the hallway for the time, however, dinner time had long since passed. It was nearing one in the morning. "Six hours?" Sam asked, stunned. "I slept six hours?"

"Yes, ma'am," the airman – whose name tag read E. Kapp as Sam noticed only now – answered. "I tried waking you, several times, but neither you nor Dr. Jackson nor Mr. Murray reacted." He paused, then stood even straighter at attention, as if waiting for punishment for his failure. "I'm sorry, ma'am."

Running a hand over her face, Sam shook her head. "Don't apologize, Kapp. I guess we needed the sleep pretty badly." She looked out the hall window toward the tarmac doused in floodlights. "Do you know where Sergeant Epps is?"

"Yes, ma'am. He is in Hangar B with Captain Lennox."

Sam perked up at that. "When did the captain arrive?"

"A few moments ago. He refused the bed we offered, mumbling something about ensuring they're fine first."

"I see. Thanks, Airman."

A door to their left opened, and both Sam and the airman turned around. It was Daniel, yawning behind a hand, his hair completely disheveled. He blinked several times against the hallway's garish lights, eventually lifting an arm to shield his eyes. "What's going on?" he asked in a slur, sounding still half-asleep.

Sam grinned. "Good morning, Daniel," she said brightly.

" _Gah!_ " He winced. "There's no need to shout at me like that, Sam. I can hear you just fine." Sam's grin widened, and the corner of Airman Kapp's mouth twitched.

Eventually taking pity on her teammate, Sam asked, "Airman, is there some coffee around here? Daniel's not exactly a morning person."

"Of course, ma'am. There's a mess hall downstairs. They should have some fresh coffee available."

"Great, thanks." Sam took Daniel's elbow to lead him. "Please wait for Murray to emerge," she asked the young man. "We'll get some coffee and then head to Hangar B."

Kapp saluted smartly. "Ma'am, yes, ma'am."

The mess hall and coffee were easily located, and after just two sips, Daniel became more coherent. He still yawned now and then, but that was far and in-between. They both had their second cup in hand when they eventually stepped outside. The cool night air did the rest in refreshing them both, and Daniel was no longer squinting through eyes heavy from sleep.

The hangar was guarded by armed soldiers who only allowed specific people to enter – "on order of Secretary of Defense Keller," one of the guards said. "If you would please identify yourself?"

They pulled out their IDs wordlessly. Sam was admittedly surprised about the politician's involvement, but felt much more at ease because of it; no one would thus stumble across the aliens on accident. "Is the SecDef here then?" she asked the guard while his companion started first frisking her, then proceeded to Daniel.

The man shook his head. "No, ma'am, but he called in a few moments after Sergeant Epps' arrival on base." A moment later, Sam and Daniel got cleared and were allowed to enter.

The Autobots, she noted, were still in vehicle mode. Their entrance didn't go amiss, though. "Good evening, Colonel Carter," the regal voice of Optimus Prime came from the semi.

"It's rather 'good morning' already, but ditto. Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long, but we literally crashed onto our beds."

"There is no need to apologize," was Optimus Prime's soft response.

The Search & Rescue Hummer appeared alarmed at that admission though. Before Sam knew what was happening, she was doused in multi-colored light beams coming from the hummer's headlights. She opened her mouth to protest, not knowing what exactly was _in_ the light beams, but the bot was already done and moved on to Daniel, subjecting him to the same procedure. Another moment later, he commented, "Your species is surprisingly energy-inefficient. I am surprised you could hold yourself up as long as you had. Even now after several of your hours of rest your energy reserves show as barely half full."

Sam chuckled, realizing they must have been scanned by the medic. "Adrenaline rush, doc," she explained. "Makes you perform miracles even if half-incapacitated."

The CMO's engine rumbled in a harrumph. "It is not healthy. You should return to recharge immediately and take Captain Lennox and Sergeant Epps along; they are not listening to me."

Lennox and Epps stood over by the wall and were grinning broadly, amused at the medic grouching at them. "I told you I slept on the flight across the pond," Lennox threw in. "I'm fine. And Epps had a lovely nap earlier."

Ratchet wasn't so easily deterred. "Initial research shows that fully grown members of your species require six to eight hours recharge to function properly. Colonel Carter and her companion had six hours of recharge, but as I stipulated, it had barely been enough to restore their energy reserves to half their usual norms. Sergeant Epps' recharge barely lasted three hours. You, Captain Lennox, have not recharged for over twenty hours."

Epps jabbed an elbow in Lennox's side. "We should listen to him, _sir_. After all, he's the medic, and what did the last doctor you saw say?" He waggled his eyebrows and was grinning broadly, his tone bordering on insubordination, but Sam felt the equal friendship that bound the two soldiers more than their ranks should allow so she remained silent. She herself and General O'Neill had often enough skirted the edges of military hierarchy; she'd be a hypocrite if she said something now.

"To follow orders to the letter." Lennox swatted at the offending elbow. "Fine! I'll be heading off to bed." He did so promptly, waving at them over his shoulder without looking around. "Don't bother waking me before breakfast."

"What if there's another attack?" Epps called after him.

"I don't care if it's the _President_ calling. I'll have my beauty sleep." The hangar door opened and shut behind the retreating captain.

Silence lasted for about three seconds, then the black pickup, Ironhide, grunted. "You humans are confusing. First he refuses to recharge, then he refuses to be onlined in case of a crisis."

"Yeah, that about sums us up," Epps said, grinning, and slapped the pickup's hood teasingly, much to Ironhide's displeasure judging by his engine's angry rev.

Sam chose to change the topic and pointed at her teammate. "Guys, I want to introduce you to Dr. Daniel Jackson. He's an archeologist and has been a member of my… unit for several years now. Daniel, these are Optimus Prime, his weapons specialist Ironhide and their medic Ratchet." She pointed at the vehicles in order of naming them. "There's a fourth named Bumblebee." She looked at the hummer questioningly.

"He's been hurt in battle and recharging to restore his energy reserves," the medic readily provided before adding, "Something all of you should do as well."

"Noted," Sam replied. Turning back to Daniel, she continued softly, "The fifth, first lieutenant Jazz, didn't survive the battle."

Daniel's expression showed his surprise. He turned at the vehicles and declared solemnly, "My condolences for your loss."

"Thank you, Dr. Jackson. It is appreciated," Optimus Prime responded.

Silence settled over them. Daniel regarded each vehicle closely; Sam could see he was impressed by the forms they took as well as the relatively flashy paintjobs. If they Autobots found his scrutiny impolite, they didn't show it.

Deciding now was as good a time as any, Sam cleared her throat, catching everyone's attention, and asked, "So, what can you tell us about that war of yours?"

"What would you like to know?" Optimus Prime asked civilly.

She shrugged. "Everything you are willing to share." She would first see what they offered of their own volition before starting to ask the more prying questions.

The Autobots launched into their story without preamble, and it was a quite lengthy one. It started with how the increasing hostilities from the future Decepticons eventually caused the outbreak of their current war. Sam thus learned that the 'Autobots' were one of the two warring factions although, once, all Cybertronians had been referred to as 'Autobots' by other races (friendly and antagonistic), confirming her initial thoughts that the word meant more than just 'autonomous robotic organism.' "But that has been a long time ago when we were still exploring the galaxy to further our thirst of knowledge and ability to understand," Optimus Prime said. "Long before the war even started. None of those still online today can remember those times."

"That's sad," Sam offered, her sentiments unspoken but apparently nevertheless understood for Optimus Prime replied, "Thank you."

The Autobot leader then gave them a basic rundown of their battles on Cybertron, told them about their most memorable victories and heartbreaking defeats. Sam listened attentively, leaving the posing of questions for clarification or out of general curiosity to Daniel. His eyes began to glow visibly – the non-Goa'uld kind of glow – when Optimus started talking about the AllSpark and its subsequent ejection into space to keep it out of Megatron's grasp. It was, apparently, their most sacred artifact, the one object that created new Cybertronian life and sustained it by producing energon, their lifeblood.

"Really?" Daniel asked enthusiastically. "How exactly does that work?" He fished around his pockets for his notebook.

But before any of the Autobots had the chance to respond to that question, Sam held up a hand and said, "Not now, Daniel." He turned to her with a dejected expression, looking like a puppy being begrudged its most favorite toy. Sam sighed and said, "Later, all right? Let them finish first with the history of the war."

He sighed. "Yeah, okay. You're right of course." He gestured at the semi. "You ejected the Cube, and then?"

"Megatron finally saw through our diversion and followed the Cube into space, a development we had thought possible but with low percentage of actually happening," Optimus Prime said. "With their leader gone, the Decepticons beat a hasty retreat. Though technically victorious, it was a dark moment for us Autobots as we had lost many of our friends and comrades in the diversion battle. Cybertron lay barren, and with the Cube gone, our only means of restoring our planet to its former glory was lost. We built the _Ark_ , intending to go search for the AllSpark, hoping to find it before Megatron did."

"Let me guess, you found it," Daniel concluded. "Here on Earth."

"Yes, they did," Sam interjected. "It was destroyed during the battle." Daniel raised his eyebrows at that, but Sam chose to change the topic to something less distressing now that she knew the background of their war. "What about that ability of yours to shift forms?" she asked.

Epps, who had been listening in silence so far, nodded with obvious excitement and added, "Took us quite by surprise when that chopper that attacked Soccent turned into a giant robot just like that." He snipped his fingers.

It was Ratchet who took up the explanation and it became extremely technical. Even Sam had trouble grasping every detail the medic told them. What she did understand was that, apart from a few exceptions (sparklings to be precise, and Sam understood they were the Cybertronians' equivalent to human babies), all Cybertronians had the ability to transform into vehicles. It was a fascinating prospect and she itched studying the transformation process. It was apparently an ability that distinguished them from other robotic lifeforms.

Sam met Epps' and Daniel's surprised expressions. "There are more robots out there?" she asked, alarmed.

"Yes," Optimus Prime said. "Our race had dealings with them in the past. They were not pleasant. Judging from your surprise, you have not yet had contact."

"Be glad that you haven't met them yet," Ironhide added in a grunt, then mumbled something indefinable that could have been a human language or not, Sam wasn't certain. And she definitely wouldn't ask.

For a moment, Epps looked like he was trying to figure something out. Sam watched him closely, wondering whether or not he caught the hidden message in Optimus' words. But then the sergeant shook his head, dismissing whatever thought had bothered him. Sam and Daniel glanced at each other in relief.

Sam then turned back to the Autobots. "Do we have to fear that these robots attack Earth?"

The Autobots didn't reply immediately but they were far from silent. A flurry of electronic sounds went to and fro between them, some of them reaching frequencies that made her ears hurt – Epps' and Daniel's too, if their grimaces were anything to go by. "English, dudes, English," the sergeant grumbled, annoyed, and soon after, the Autobots resumed the conversation in English.

"We do not believe that Earth is in danger of being attacked by the _whirr-click chirr-chirrup click click_ ," Optimus Prime said. "The last time we had dealings with them was long before the war started. They have not been seen or heard of since then."

"Does their name not translate into English?" Daniel asked.

"No, it does not," Ironhide replied.

Sam frowned. "The name aside, we didn't count on being attacked by Cybertronians either. There's no guarantee these whatever they're called won't find our planet too."

Ironhide's engine growled. "We've been travelling the galaxy for hundreds of vorns and haven't encountered them. Chances that they will somehow find their way here are nonsignificant."

"A vorn is approximately 83 years of human reckoning," Optimus explained when seeing their expressions of confusion.

It went against her instincts to trust the assessment of aliens she didn't know that well just yet. But judging the relatively dismissive tone of especially Ironhide, she thought it would be for the better to drop the topic. At least for now. "We'll take your word for it," she therefore concluded but made a mental note to mention this possible threat to O'Neill in her report. Maybe they could at least get coordinates of Optimus Prime to avoid heading into those regions of the galaxy.

Epps crossed his arms in front of his chest. "If you don't mind, could you elaborate on the necessity of ejecting the Cube into space? You said it was to keep it out of Megatron's hands, but why doing something this drastic when it was the most holy artifact of your species?"

Optimus Prime settled a little on his axles before patiently answering the sergeant's question – at length. They still hadn't exhausted that topic when Teal'c walked in, about an hour after Sam and Daniel, wide awake and looking like he could move mountains.

Of course, Ratchet scanned him as well – only to reel back visibly. "You have a hole in your stomach!" the medic exclaimed worriedly. Teal'c raised an eyebrow at that, staring at the hummer incredulously. Sam and Daniel burst out laughing, much to Epps' growing confusion, Ratchet's too judging by his irritated huffing. "I don't understand what's so funny about it. With a hole like that it's a miracle he's still even alive!" When neither Sam nor Daniel showed signs of listening to him, he turned back to Teal'c. "Didn't one of your medics check you after battle?" he asked. "I would do it but my knowledge of human physiology is still rather limited."

Teal'c wisely didn't reply, and neither did Sam nor Daniel once they had stopped laughing. Epps seemed put out at that – having correctly guessed that it was his presence preventing the secret to be revealed – but Sam simply said, "Sorry, Sergeant, but that's classified."

"So…" Daniel turned around to Optimus Prime and started bombarding him with in-depth questions regarding the AllSpark, and later their religious beliefs. Much to Sam's surprise, the Autobot commander took Daniel's enthusiasm in stride and provided most of the answers he sought.

* * *

 **Author Note:** Cyber cookies to anyone who correctly translates _whirr-click chirr-chirrup click click_. :D


	8. Epilogue: More Than Meets The Eye

**Author Note:** Well, here's the final update. This story is now done but far from over. I've been inspired by a review from ww1990ww and will be writing a companion to TCE. No idea yet when that will go up though.

Many thanks again for all those faithful readers that stuck till the end and who provided feedback in form of reviews or by setting this story to their alert or favorites. I'm always glad when people like a story of mine.

I promised cyber cookies to anyone who guessed the correct translation of _whirr-click chirr-chirrup click click_ , and the winner is… *drumroll* _**kira444**_! *sends package with cyber cookies to kira444* The Autobots were talking about the Quintessons. To anyone guessing Replicators: SG-1 met them and fought them on various occasions, but they have yet to (though hopefully never will) encounter the Quintessons.

Enough waffling. I present you now with the conclusion of "The Comet Enigma". Thanks again for sticking around; it was a blast. Please enjoy now the epilogue and remember: Reviews are love!

* * *

– epilogue –

 **More Than Meets The Eye**

The next days passed fairly quickly. Sam, Lennox and Epps, as well as the rest of the soldiers, were in debriefings or holed up in video conferences, discussing the pros and cons of the Autobots' request to remain on Earth with the higher ups. Teal'c volunteered to assist the cleanup crews or lent a hand to the medical facilities treating the wounded. Daniel practically lived in Hangar B. If it weren't for Ratchet's insistence of regular sustenance and proper recharge, he wouldn't have set a foot out of there ever again.

The loose ends were the kids, Samuel Witwicky and Mikaela Banes. They were housed in the officers' quarters, with guards outside their doors. They were allowed to see each other during the day, but they couldn't step outside. Naturally, as teenagers, they were quickly bored. As ranking officer involved in recent events, Sam was asked for advice. She paid the kids a visit at the end of the first day after the battle.

"Colonel, please," the boy began when Sam walked into the room. "We've been telling them we're not a security threat. You can let us out of here."

Sam could sympathize with them but the reason for their 'incarceration' was another one. "It's not so much of you posing a security risk," she told them. "We're on a military base, and the regulations for civilians are rather tight. Add to that the unknown that are the aliens, and we're pretty much in lockdown." She held up both hands to ward off the teens' protests before they came forth. "I know the Autobots are friendlies and wouldn't harm us. But the brass doesn't just yet. Give it time. Until then I'm sorry, but you'll have to stay here."

Worse than having to tell the teens they were practically incarcerated in their rooms was having to be present during their 'interrogations.' A barrage of questions along the like of "How did the aliens make contact?" or "What was your involvement in the battle?" was fired at the kids. They wouldn't answer, however, until they had the written promise that Mikaela's juvie record would be erased and that Samuel's parents were unharmed. To say Sam was surprised to learn that the girl had been apprehended for grand theft auto along with her father would be an understatement. But she made a couple of calls and could eventually hand the desired document over as well as assure the boy that his parents had returned home safely. Samuel asked whether he was allowed to call them. Sam nodded and organized him a phone. After he had spoken to his parents and Mikaela to her grandma, both teens cooperated without problem, answering whatever question they were asked.

Sam also tried to regularly check on the Autobots. They were all fine, though repairing Bumblebee's injury was slow-going. When Daniel asked why, Ratchet started a half hour long lecture on the inferiority of human-made metal and equipment, irritated at the disruption. "I have to fall back on other methods to reattach the legs," he explained sourly. "They need to support Bumblebee's weight after all. It wouldn't do if he tried standing and crumbled down because the welds don't hold, would it? Now shoo and stop pestering me!"

Amused at the medic's short temper, Sam and Daniel beat a hasty retreat.

The Secretary of Defense was in and out of the base several times as well, sort of commuting between the Pentagon and Nellis. They finally met him in person three days after the battle when he walked into the hangar early in the morning, just as SG-1 was finishing having breakfast whilst talking to the Autobots. Sam immediately stood at attention. "At ease, Colonel," the man said, then greeted them all with a firm handshake. "It is a pleasure to finally meet the infamous SG-1," Keller said. "Your work at Stargate Command has been pivotal in the last years. I had hoped to get to know General O'Neill too, especially after reading so much about his more… adventurous exploits, but I suppose the blackout made it impossible for you to contact him?"

Sam smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Secretary. General O'Neill is up to speed; I called him as soon as communication was restored thanks to the Autobots –" She gestured at Optimus Prime's truck behind her. "– and I've been updating him every day. He is expected to come to Nellis in a few days."

"Good, good. We need someone experienced to take care of this." Keller then looked at the semi with interest. "So you are the extraterrestrials' leader?" he asked.

If the Autobots were wondering about the humans' conversation, they didn't show it. Optimus merely replied with a polite, "Yes, Mr. Secretary, I am. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

"The pleasure is mine. As I understand, it was because of your intervention that the Decepticons were taken care of. Thank you."

If Optimus could have nodded, he would have. The semi didn't move or change in any visible form, yet Sam perceived the wordless acknowledgement regardless.

"And you would then be Ironhide and Ratchet," Keller continued in the direction of the pickup and hummer. "I already heard a lot about you from the kids, Witwicky and Banes."

Neither bot replied to that; it hadn't been a question after all. It was Optimus who spoke first, asking, "We haven't seen Sam or Mikaela since coming here. How are they?"

The Secretary of Defense waved his hand dismissively. "Both are fine. I've spoken to them before coming here. They asked to see the Autobots, but as civilians, I cannot let them wander freely around a military base."

"Why?" Ironhide nearly growled the question.

"Regulations," Sam answered shortly, not wanting to start a heated argument with the weapons specialist.

Keller seemed to sense the need for a change of topic so he asked, "How is Bumblebee doing? I understand he had been injured in the battle."

Ratchet the hummer huffed and complained, "He would be doing much better if I didn't have to work with inferior material and could work uninterrupted, but each time a human official comes in to talk to us, we are to resume alt-mode!"

A string of alien sounds drifted from Optimus' truck toward the medic, and although Sam didn't understand a word, she got the tone: it was an explanation, a reminder and a rebuke – all at the same time. When Ratchet's engine only revved once in reply and afterward fell silent, Sam's respect for the Autobot leader grew. Then Optimus addressed Keller, "My apologies, Mr. Secretary."

The politician stared at the semi for a moment, then waved his hand dismissively again. He turned back to Sam. "I'll leave you to it then, Colonel, knowing things are in your team's good hands. If you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend to." Sam had barely time to salute before he walked out.

" _Finally!_ " Ratchet said. Sam turned at the sounds of transformation, in time to see the hummer morph into the medic's imposing humanoid form. He continued grumbling under his breath while walking to the other end of the hangar where Bumblebee lay partitioned off; as long as he couldn't change into his vehicle form, no one but the Autobots had access to him.

Ironhide and Optimus were quick in transforming back to bipedal mode too. Sam's focus was entirely on the latter as he was crouching down on knees to reduce the height difference. "I take it this 'Stargate program' is responsible for your previous meetings with extraterrestrials." It was a question and statement at the same time, and surprisingly without any accusing inflection.

Sam shared a look with Daniel; could they tell the Autobots? The program was classified for a reason. Yet they were aliens too and more than qualified for the program.

Turning back to Optimus, Sam nodded. "Yes."

"So General O'Neill is the commander in charge of the program," Optimus deduced.

"Yes. He used to be our team's commanding officer until his predecessor, General Hammond, got promoted to head of Homeworld Security."

"I see."

Ironhide stepped closer from behind his leader. "So what does 'Stargate' mean?"

Daniel took up the explanation, telling the Autobots about how the gate was dug out of the Egyptian desert and how he had – literally – unlocked its secrets before describing them the gate's buildup and functioning. When he fell silent, Optimus and Ironhide conversed in their alien language, the electronic sounds moving back and forth at a speed that it was hard to follow who was talking at any point.

Eventually, Optimus switched back to English. "I believe we encountered a few of these Stargates during our travels, never knowing what they could do. The planets were either uninhabited or the people treated the Stargate with reverence suggesting it was a religious artifact."

"In some cases they were," Daniel said, then plunged into the history of the Goa'uld, their enslavement of humans and Jaffa as well as the SG teams' battles against them. That was also when they revealed Teal'c's true origins. To say the Autobots were surprised to learn that Teal'c was not human was an understatement.

Optimus or Ironhide must have informed Ratchet because the medic poked his head out from behind the partition, eyeing Teal'c pensively. "So this hole in your stomach served as an incubator for the Goa'ulds' young?"

"Indeed."

"Mhm…" Teal'c was scanned again. A moment later, the medic froze, his expression changing to one of utter surprise. He whirred lowly and then slowly said, "Your genetic makeup in its basics is like the humans', yet it has been altered. Improved in fact."

Teal'c straightened his stance before nodding once in Ratchet's direction in acknowledgement.

The medic blinked and issued another scan. Once he finished, he shook his head and uttered something in his native tongue to which both Optimus and Ironhide reacted sharply, their attention fixed on the Jaffa. Ratchet then said, "My scans indicate your cells' age to be much higher than the average human lifespan. Yet you appear healthy and in no immediate danger of deactivation due to your physical body malfunctioning."

Daniel grinned. "Jaffa tend to become much older than we. It's part of them being used by the Goa'ulds. The larvae take over the job of their immune system. Jaffa therefore are stronger, heal much faster and live longer – provided they have either a larval Goa'uld in their abdominal pouch or take Tretonin like Teal'c does."

"Tretonin is a chemical substance derived from Goa'uld larvae. A sort of drug if you want," Sam explained when seeing the Autobots' questioning expressions.

"I see…" Ratchet said and scanned Teal'c a third time. Afterward he huffed and said, "There seems to be no physical impairment now that the larva has been removed. You are declared fully operational."

Sam and Daniel sniggered while Teal'c raised an eyebrow at the medic. "Thanks, doc," Sam said after a while, grinning. The medic grumbled something and returned to Bumblebee's repairs once more.

"So you've been collecting alien technology?" Ironhide ventured, bringing them back to their original line of conversation.

"Yes. At first it was just scientific curiosity. But immediately after contact with the first Goa'uld, we received standing orders to gather any technology of interest that might assist us in defending ourselves against an attack by the Goa'uld – or other, at this point unknown, hostile people." Sam pursed her lips. "Whilst your arrival on Earth wasn't through the gate, you are a technologically advanced species. With the kind of weaponry you use, we could win our battles all the time."

The change of mood was instantaneous. Optimus Prime leaned back, bringing distance between them while simultaneously straightening his posture. "Whilst a compassionate race," he then began, "you humans also have a tendency toward violence. Our technology would be too dangerous in your hands. We will therefore not share any of our technology." His tone made it clear this was nonnegotiable.

Sam was taken aback at the suddenly cool tone, staring at the Autobot. But the longer she thought about it, the better she thought she could understand where he was coming from. She had seen them fight, and that much firepower could prove too much to handle for someone without experience or intending to do as much harm as possible. However, she also saw the advantage such advanced technology would bring. She would definitely address this issue with General O'Neill. Off world or not, she had her standing orders, even if it meant that there would be serious discussions with the Autobots in the future.

…

A week after the battle in Mission City, General Jack O'Neill drove into Hangar B of Nellis Air Force Base. He immediately recognized Carter, Teal'c and Daniel. The two soldiers next to them he didn't know; one was a US Army Ranger, the other a US Air Force Tech Sergeant.

The two strangers stood at attention with salutes when Jack got out of the car. He ignored them for now, instead focusing on Carter. "Got your latest report," he said, praise in his tone.

"Thanks, sir," Carter replied with a smile. She gestured at the two strangers and quickly introduced them to each other. After the humans shook hands, Carter turned toward the vehicles across from them. "Sir, I'd like to introduce you to Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, and his weapons specialist Ironhide."

The vehicles started moving, not forward or backward but up, until two humanoid mechanic beings stared down at them. The taller of the two, the one that had been a blue semi with flames on its doors, crouched down and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you, General O'Neill. Colonel Carter and her team have told much about you."

Jack nodded, a little stunned. He had read the reports and seen the pictures, but they paled in comparison to reality. "Likewise. I heard a lot about you too. Lots of good things." He then turned back to Carter with an inquisitive look; her report had said the Autobots were four, yet there were currently only two standing in front of him.

Carter understood immediately and explained, "Their Chief Medical Officer Ratchet is currently with their scout Bumblebee, seeing to the repairs of Bumblebee's legs."

"Ah." Jack glanced back at the Autobots, pensive. After some moments, he walked over to Carter and stopped in front of her. He put a hand on her shoulder and gravely asked, "Carter, didn't I ask you _not_ to find aliens?"

Lennox and Epps stared at him in bafflement. Daniel snorted and promptly started coughing. Carter's smile turned into a grin, albeit an apologetic one. "Sorry, sir, we tried."

Above them Optimus Prime blinked and rumbled, "My apologies, General O'Neill."


End file.
